As part of implementing the Second Vatican Council's decisions, the Sacred Congregation of Rites issued on May 25, 1967, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery (Eucharisticum Mysterium). In that instruction the Congregation spoke of the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament and the place of the tabernacle.

It said: "The place in a church or oratory where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved in the tabernacle should be truly prominent. It ought to be suitable for private prayer so that the faithful may easily and fruitfully, by private devotion also, continue to honor our Lord in this sacrament.

"It is therefore recommended that, as far as possible, the tabernacle be placed in a chapel distinct from the middle or central part of the church, above all in those churches where marriages and funerals take place frequently, and in places which are much visited for their artistic or historical treasures."